Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Pakistan must avoid whitewash against Bangladesh to maintain ODI standing

Pakistan knows that it must avoid a 3-0 series defeat against Bangladesh to maintain its seventh place ranking in theReliance ICC ODI Team Rankings when the two sides face off in the first of three One-Day Internationals (ODIs), which starts in Mirpur on Friday.

Pakistan currently lies in seventh spot on 95 ratings points and has a chance to reduce England’s six point advantage by one point if it wins the series 3-0. A 2-1 victory would see Azhar Ali’s men remain on 95 points.

Bangladesh knows that it cannot move up the table irrespective of the result, but a 3-0 whitewash in its favour would see it move to 81 points. In that scenario, the West Indies would move level with Pakistan on 92 points, but the men from the Caribbean would hold a slender 0.13 point advantage when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

A 2-1 win for Mashrafe Mortaza’s Bangladesh would see the hosts move up three points to 79. Although Pakistan would retain its seventh place position following that series scoreline, it would drop two points to 93. Continue Reading...